I’ve never read anything about de Gaulle, but this biography is said to be a compelling narrative of the founder of the French Fifth Republic, General Charles de Gaulle, who saw himself as “carrying France on [his] shoulders.” It has been waiting on my bookshelf for months now.

In the weeks prior to New Yorker editor William Maxwell’s death in July 2000, he lost his ability to read. He asked friends and family members to sit by his bedside and read War and Peace to him out loud. Thinking about this recently has gotten me motivated to read War and Peace again for myself, but first I wanted more context.

Russia Against Napoleon author D. C. B. Lieven has taken advantage of never-before-seen documents from the Russian archives and upends much of the conventional wisdom about the events that formed the backdrop of War and Peace. The book itself will be fun, but it will also make subsequent re-reading of War and Peace that much richer.

Thank you for following “Roosevelt’s Reads” this year. Maybe next month I’ll report on one or more of these books if they’re as good as I hope them to be.

Happy New Year to all Antioch College students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends.